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MarketPulse

02:04PM

Tesla offers enhanced Model S service package
(
TSLA
)
by Jim Jelter

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tesla Motors Inc.
(tsla)
CEO Elon Musk announced Friday a series of service enhancements available to owners of the company's Model S electric sedan. "Our service is OK but not great. And it needs to be great," Musk said on a conference call. Among enhancements to the package, Musk said owners can opt out of the annual service contract without invalidating the car's warranty. Fully-loaded loaner cars will also be made available to anyone whose Model S is in the shop for service. If they like the more expensive model, they can keep it as long as they make up the difference in value. Tesla is also adopting a no-fault policy on the batteries in its vehicles. Tesla shares were down 0.6% at $51.67 following the announcement.

01:48PM

Gold ends lower, but gains for the week
(
GCM3
)
by Myra P. Saefong

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures settled with a loss of 0.6% after a sudden turn lower during the session, but prices still ended the week 4.2% higher on the back of strength in physical gold demand. The fall in gold Friday may have been due to "margin-call selling or an entity taking profits after the large gains seen this week," said Mark O'Byrne, executive director at GoldCore. A margin call is defined as a broker demand for additional funds from traders because of an adverse price movement. Gold for June delivery
(gcm3)
settled at $1,453.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, down $8.40.

12:14PM

House OKs bill to end air-traffic furloughsby Robert Schroeder

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The House of Representatives on Friday approved a bill that allows the Federal Aviation Administration to shift money in its budget to reduce furloughs of air-traffic controllers. The measure passed the Senate late Thursday night. The bill gives the Department of Transportation authority to adjust the FAA's budget to "prevent reduced operations and staffing" for the rest of the government's budget year, which ends Sept. 30. President Barack Obama will sign the measure, his spokesman Jay Carney said Friday.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures on Friday went from a gain of about $10 an ounce to a modest loss in the span of about 15 minutes, while oil futures added to its earlier losses. Chintan Karnani, independent bullion analyst based in New Delhi, said he was flooded with telephone calls over the reason for gold's fall. "The only reason is profit taking before the weekend and failure to break past an intraday high of $1,484.80," he said. "This fall has scared traders and they will be using every rise to exit gold buys." Gold for June delivery
(gcm3)
was last down $6.50, or 0.4%, to trade at $1,455.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. All commodities have fallen in tandem too, which is be noted, said Karnani. June oil
(clm3)
traded at $92.48, down $1.16, or 1.2%.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Financial stocks fell on Friday as gross domestic product growth was below economist expectations for the first quarter, according to a government report. The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund
(xlf)
, which tracks financial stocks in the S&P 500
(spx)
, was down 0.3% in early trading. Citigroup Inc.
(c)
and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
(gs)
were down more than 0.7%. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
(jpm)
and Bank of America Corp.
(bac)
were down 0.4%.

09:59AM

Consumer sentiment falls in April to 3-month lowby Ruth Mantell

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The University of Michigan-Thomson Reuters consumer-sentiment gauge fell to a final April reading of 76.4 -- the lowest result since January -- from a final March reading of 78.6, reports said Friday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a final April reading of 74. A preliminary April gauge pegged the level at 72.3. In April consumers faced negative news on jobs and federal spending, though they also saw stocks rise and gasoline prices decline. In addition, they've been hit by higher payroll taxes. The sentiment gauge, which covers how consumers view their personal finances as well as business and buying conditions, averaged about 87 in the year before the start of the most recent recession. Economists watch sentiment data to get a feel for the direction of consumer spending.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Shares of Amazon.com
(amzn)
fell more than 3% early Friday, as the tech sector also was weighed down by slumping semiconductor stocks. Amazon posted results that beat Wall Street estimates, but analysts pointed to signs of slowing growth. Meanwhile, the chip sector headed south, as shares of KLA-Tencor
(klac)
shed 10% after reporting a big drop in revenue. Also in the red were shares of Advanced Micro Devices
(amd)
, Altera Corp.
(altr)
and Intel Corp.
(intc)
. On the upside, shares of Facebook Inc.
(fb)
were up more than 3% after Raymond James upgraded the stock to strong buy citing strong monetization potential. But the Nasdaq Composite Index
(comp)
was down a fraction at 3,281. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index
(sox)
was behind 1%.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks opened mostly lower on Friday after data showed the U.S. economy expanded at a slower pace than expected in the first quarter. The S&P 500 index
(spx)
dropped less than a point to 1,584.2 and the Nasdaq Composite index
(comp)
fell 7 points to 3,282.2. In contrast, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
(djia)
rose 12 points to 14,712.

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